The
Mario Gallery is looking forward to the 90th birth anniversary of
Mario de Miranda as they will be organising a book release of ‘The
Life of Mario 1949’,
the latest in the series that
also includes 1950
and 1951. An
exhibition featuring Mario’s
original
drawings will
commence on April 30, 2016 at Gallery
Gitanjali, Panjim.
‘The Life of
Mario 1949’
will be released at said exhibition that will go on till May
21, 2016. The second release of
the book will
be at the free concert on May 2, 2016 at 7:30pm
at the Amphitheatre of the Museum Houses of Goa at Torda, Porvorim,
which will feature Mario’s favourite bands, the Cotta Family and
Sonia Shirsat and her group.
“The
age of cartooning is on the decline as there are many more online
platforms and the daily cartoon in the newspaper is unimportant now.
Artists like R K Laxman, Mario de
Miranda and
Abu Abraham were a different era. There are not just cartoonists
but all forms of artists who watch his
works
and get inspired. There will be 12,000 drawings of Mario de
Miranda on
display with 60 pocket size drawings
and 14 illustrations for sale. Google is also planning on having a
Google doodle on Mario’s birth anniversary,” says Gerard da
Cunha,
curator of Mario Gallery.
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Alexyz
has been cartooning for the past 30 years and feels that cartoonists
are
still not
given the deserved platform or pay. Working with leading dailies in
Goa and Mumbai, he hopes the situation will improve in the future.
“Goa is not the best place for cartoons
as compared to
other metro cities as most papers
here are run
by business houses and are into business rather than being a watchdog
of democracy. I conduct workshops for cartoonists in the age group of
16-25
years but the
platform to showcase the talent is not available. For my last
exhibition, six other cartoonists from Goa displayed their artworks,”
says Alexyz.
Dr
Smitha Bhandare Kamat, Assistant Professor
at SS
Dempo
College of Commerce and Economics, Panjim, recently
had her
work, which
covered
the political scenario of Pre-elections Bihar,
selected
by the IIC Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Bangalore.
She
runs an active doodle page
on Facebook under ‘A
moment in time’ and has contributed cartoons to Herald Publication
under
‘Smile with Smitha’, for Goa Today under ‘Last Laugh’ and
for ‘Evescape’
under ‘Evestoon’.
“I used to draw political cartoons in 2009-2010 but since Goa is a
small state, the publications and I used to get calls from
politicians who didn’t
take the cartoon in
the right
spirit. Social issues are much appreciated as cartoons and I was
encouraged by editors like Ashwin Tombat and Vinayak Naik who gave me
a free hand in drawing what I wanted
to. A cartoon
is a serious message in a comical form and since it is not taught in
colleges nor encouraged as an art form, it is not a lucrative job.
Also,
the small community of cartoonists are dominated by male artists and
very few women,” says Dr Smitha, whose artwork will be employed as
greeting cards by the
Women’s
Studies Department
at IGNOU.
Billy
Joe Fernandes
is currently working in Logistics in Dubai but has kept his love for
cartooning alive by regularly posting his cartoons on his Facebook
page, ‘BillytoonsGOA’. “There
was lot to learn from Mario
de
Miranda’s
works
about
how Goa was earlier.
He
had detailed cartoons for all occasions.
It is sad that at present cartoonists
are not taken seriously in Goa
and there
is no much scope for a cartoonist.
I got interested in cartoons in
my college days
and I used to draw in
my free time.
Currently, I operate the Facebook page where I post my cartoons with
issues related to Goa or any awareness campaigns,” says Billy.
Another
illustrator
from Calangute who had the opportunity to meet and share his ideas
with Mario de
Miranda is
Fabian
Gonsalves.
“Mario
de Miranda had told me in 2008 that
‘cartooning
has a bleak future for you young cartoonists, because
people
have
become very serious and don’t
like to be made fun of – the toon way.’ I
believe it’s
true.
What I love about his work was his uncanny ability to emphasise
a group of 100 characters involved in individual situations in
one given moment. His
layouts, shapes, silhouettes, and overall emotion of the piece,
all
of his works speak of a Nostalgic Goa that is extinct.”
Working
in Dubai as
well as
Mumbai, Fabian got a better perspective of the industry. He adds,
“Cartooning is entirely
passion-oriented and you can’t rely on it to pay your
bills in Goa.
I
have known a lot of illustrators, but for some reasons, cartoonists
are officially extinct.
I just
‘toon for fun or to share a thought
which people
like and
share,
but don’t
buy. I
continue cartooning
to satisfy my ever raging soul
but it doesn’t
get me money.”
